president obama didn't know about the irs targeting tea party groups, that he was out of the loop on nsa eavesdropping, and the latest episode, not knowing about the technical problems plaguing the obama care website before its october 1 launch date. so is the president being shielded by his own staff? let's bring in presidential historian allen lickman, a professor at american university, professor lickman, good to see you. >> same here. >> so is this customary that the president may not know everything? >> of course, the president doesn't know everything. but it's also customary to have plausible denial when things go wrong to say the president didn't know it. as a political historian, my opinion is always that the president knows regardless of what his aides may say. and barack obama is a hands-on president. he has his fingers in every pie. of course, he knew about these things. he might not have known the fine detail, but i firmly believe he knew the broad outlines -- >> but if the president knows stuff, then the president runs a great risk -- his credibility, everything is on the li